San Diego 2008

Apparently this is becoming an annual thing.

On to the picture show...

After feeling like we were never going to get there (big, bad accident - jammed for 20 miles) we finally arrived, a little frazzled sitting in a car with one complaining toddler and one crying baby. Thus our weekend began.

The zoo was our first stop.





It was a little chaotic traveling with about 13 kids, but somehow we made it around the zoo. If you ask Bear about her favorite part of the zoo she will probably tell you about the "Pah-das (Pandas)" or the "Jee-raffs (Giraffes)."

My favorite part was visiting the Security office, asking to use the phone, and leaving Matt a message that sounded like this, "Hi, uh, I don't know where you are, my phone is dead, and I'm in the security office with Chipmunk who pooped, by the way, and needs a new change of clothes." Matt came to our rescue 20 minutes later. As we were changing Chipmunk, a couple of women walked by, pointed at our naked baby and laughed saying, "oh my gosh, that looks like the baby in the email!" It's unfortunate that I knew which email they were talking about.

The next day, I stupidly forgot the camera, but had a blast with some good friends who live in San Diego (Thanks again!). Matt on the other hand spent his day elsewhere.

Sunday we went to Sea World. Bear was excited because all week we told her how we were going to have breakfast with Elmo. She seemed a little nervous when we got there though.



She was okay in the beginning...



But after a while, those larger than life characters started to freak her out.



Here's Bear climbing up onto the table to avoid getting hugged back by Elmo.



With some tears, but okay with Zoe.



Not too happy with Grover.



Absolutely unhappy with Ernie.



Chipmunk on the other hand was quite happy.



He was a little annoyed though that Daddy wouldn't share his food with him.

Bear was fine once all the characters took their leave. So the rest of the day she was happily telling us all about dolphins and whales that "Spyash." We made sure to visit the turtles more than once (because she kept asking to see them) and cooled off in the Polar Bear exhibit (Boy was it hot that day!). Chipmunk decided to take a 2 hour nap in the wrap sling while Bear played in the kids play area.

We closed our weekend the way it began (stuck in traffic - listening to crying and complaining) and now we are home and all excited about sleeping in our own beds again. Until next year!

The 2nd Floor is Always Better...

I don't remember who (it might have been my mom) told me that 2nd floor apartments are always better. As I've lived in various places, I'm beginning to see why.

1) The 2nd floor is SAFER. It's mostly the apartments on the bottom floor that get burglarized. One time while living in San Diego a neighbor was telling my roommate and I about how some random guy broke into their livingroom window (on the 1st floor)and walked upstairs into their bedroom in the middle of the night. They woke up, the husband yelled and the guy fled. They theorized that he was looking for some apartments with females(scary!)...we always made sure our livingroom window was closed and locked after that.

2) The 2nd floor has LESS WILDLIFE. During college I lived on the 5th floor of our on-campus apartments. The only wildlife we had in our apartment was Cocoa, the hamster who liked to escape and greet us at the door. It was much too high for ants and mice. Meanwhile, downstairs on the 1st floor my future husband was setting up glue traps and spraying bugs that would crawl in from the nearby canyon.

3) The 2nd floor (if it's the top floor) has LESS NOISE. When you live below you tend to hear a lot more noise. Living on an upper floor, you forget how much the people below you can hear. Our 5th floor apartment during 2nd year of college was smack dab below a bunch of rowdy boys. Their bathroom was right above our bedroom...sometimes in the middle of the night, my roommate and I could hear things we really didn't want to hear...Gave new meaning to Eine Kleine NachtMusik.

4) The 2nd floor has GRAVITY. Okay, so all apartments have gravity, but when you have a leak on the 2nd floor, it runs downstairs. Case in point.

5) And finally, the 2nd floor is FARTHER FROM THE GROUND...and farther from sewage leaks! I know, yuck, right? Apparently, gallons and gallons of sewage have been blocked and pooling underneath our apartment. Ugh. They cleared the blockage and the sewage has moved on, but the smell still lingers a little. Ew! Perhaps I shouldn't have been so quick to complain about the crazy van man and his incense. We could use that sandalwood smell right about now.

***Update: So the plumber came back and poured bleach all over the place. The sewage smell is gone, but man, the bleach smell is overpowering. I've got the world's worst headache right now from the fumes. That can't be good.

Sibling Love

This picture sums up the relationship between Chipmunk and Bear these days. Bear has this proud "little mama" look like she's actually helping her brother out by patting his head and telling him in a high pitched voice, "good boy, little baby!" Chipmunk just looks like he can't wait for the day where he can do unto his sis what his sis has done to him. Ah, sibling love. Ain't it grand?

Lessons Learned

Curiosity is a good thing, right? I've been trying to tell myself that even though in the back of my mind I know what happened to the cat.

Bear has been quite curious lately...she's apparently following too closely after her television idol, Curious George. I find myself putting out fires (metaphorical, not real, thank goodness) and surveying the damage to make sure that (1) no one needs to be rushed to the hospital and (2) the damage isn't permanent. It's getting exhausting.

Some of Bear's curiosities:

- Finding out what happens when you stick things in keyholes. I've had to pry a few things out.

- Finding out what happens when you take things apart...like our camera tripod...she managed to unscrew a few pieces where it just fell apart when I picked it up one day. We're still looking for some pieces...

- Finding out what happens when you push buttons...anywhere. We all know what happened to our DVD player. She's also been leaving lights on in our car, turning on the vacuum unplugged (so when you plug it in...), reprogramming alarm clocks to go off in the middle of the night, recording random things on TiVo, and changing preferences on Matt's computer.

These are all relatively, minor though. Some more recent occurrences have had me a little more on edge lately.

- Climbing onto unsturdy boxes in order to explore what's hanging out where she can't see. I tend to hear the aftermath of things crashing to the ground (Lesson Learned! It hurts when you fall and things fall on top of you).

- Putting cds and dvds into the vcr and frustratedly ramming them in while yelling, "don't work!" (Lesson Learned! Breaking the VCR and the DVDs isn't a good thing)

- Climbing under our car in order to get to the other side (Lesson Learned! You get your clothes all dirty and mommy freaks out when she finds out where you were).

- And this morning...coming up to me with a gaping hole in her pajama shirt, of which she announced, "cut scissors...fix it!" (Thankfully, she only cut the shirt and not anything else...phew!...although she was a little sad because it was her favorite shirt - Lesson Learned! Don't play with scissors because sometimes the damage can't be fixed!)

Of course, when all of this happens I always ask myself, where was I when all of this happened? She's so sneaky. She actually waits until my back is turned, when I've stepped away a couple of minutes, or looked in the other direction before she runs for some forbidden object. Even when I put things away, she watches me to see where I put it and comes for it later.

Diabolical, I tell you. Or just curious...

Utterly Incapable

Today I hit my breaking point...literally.

I broke my 7th dish since Chipmunk was born.

I've been saying we needed to make more room in our cupboards, but this is not what I meant.

It's things like this that make me feel so utterly incapable.

Apparently, parenthood just has a way of doing that.

Sigh.

Summer Breezes

Summer is hot. Summer is fun. Summer is busy...

Summer continues to breeze on by...

Bear has been taking an art class. Her favorite pastime in class is using the scissors. Perhaps it's because we don't own any kiddie scissors at home so she's been deprived that she makes a bee line for those colorful plastic cutters. Occasionally she'll glue, but most of her artwork just has this fringe around the outside where she went scissors happy.



Well, except the windsock which was supposed to have fringe...which she happily snip-snipped.

July 4th we spent the day with some of my longtime friends (minus one who we missed terribly)...We tried to get some good pictures of the kids together...but if you know anything about taking pictures of multiple kids...it just never works out...especially with five of them...

At night we went to view the fireworks. Bear enjoyed her corn...



...and Chipmunk was a little fussy, at least until the fireworks started and then he was mesmerized for the whole half hour show.



Until next post...summer will continue to breeze on by.

A Thin Line

Fun and torture have a thin line drawn between them when you're a parent. Sometimes you have to carefully weigh your options before and ask yourself, "will we have fun or is this going to be more trouble than it's worth?" That's what we ask ourselves every time before venturing out.

This past weekend we went to our annual church retreat. After throwing half of our worldly belongings into the car and driving a little ways, we ended up on a local university campus unpacking into a dorm room. We ate meals in a cafeteria, crowded with people from other on-campus events, and spent most of our time walking from one place to another to make sure we made it to events mostly on time.

With two small kids in tow we made sure to come prepared. Naps were short or non-existent, mealtimes were chaotic making sure all were fed properly, and my mind was racing with lists making sure we were appropriately ready for all things.

Sometimes there were meltdowns and bouts of inconsolable crying. We witnessed falls and spills that resulted in bruises and bumps. There was separation anxiety, rebelling against the unfamiliar and constant complaining and whining.

So was it worth it?

Absolutely.

Although the moment we came home we were cleaning up oodles of poop that the kids stored up over the course of the weekend, we had a weekend of wonderful memories...the great conversations we had with old friends and new friends, the smile on Bear's marker covered face as she showed us the picture she created, the wiggling excitement of Chipmunk as we ventured from one place to another, learning and reflecting and being refreshed...

There's just something about coming home and realizing that we actually made it through the weekend. Even when you're standing over the sink oxy-cleaning playdough stains from shorts and pondering how to put sleeping schedules back in order, you have to smile and be thankful for the joys that outweigh the trouble.

4 and a half months

Chipmunk still amazes me with his massiveness...

17 pounds 13 ounces (95%ile)
26 inches long (90%ile)
2 teeth (and 2 more on the way)



Whoa.

Bear's Latest Antics

...roaming around our home flapping her arms yelling, "Cockle Doo!"

...singing medleys of all her favorite sings..."Twinkle, twinkle, little dar, how I know my ABCs, Itsy pie-der falling down, Where thumb-pin, here am, E-I-Ooooooh..."

...purposely pushing her brother while he is propped up in a sitting position on the couch and then innocently asking, "oh what happened? Brudder fell down?"

...pointing to the moles on my arms, saying, "mommy hurts" and running to get a wipe to apparently try to wipe the spots off.

...when asked where Chipmunk's chin is she says, "here, here, here...three chins!"

...coming out to the livingroom after her nap and poignantly announcing, "I woke up" (Yup, it took her a whole month before she figured she could get out of bed herself).

...sitting at the dinner table and roaring like a dinosaur, laughing her head off and saying, "oh no, dino-door (dinosaur) table!"

...running up to Chipmunk speaking in a high squeaky voice, "Hello Baby [Chipmunk]...good boy you! Eat milk! Pay(play) toys!"

...while climbing stairs, "Yook mommy, I up-ping da stairs!"

...spinning, spinning, spinning until she runs into something, laughs and says, "whoa diz-zee."

Thoughtless

Tonight I was blessed to escape for a few hours and spend some time sans kids, sans husband. It was girl night. We ate, chatted, and ate some more. We caught up, we laughed, we enjoyed each other's company and I lapped up every precious minute.

I had a problem though: my words were rather incohesive. There I was, my first real adult conversation after giving birth to Chipmunk, and it was like my thoughts and my words weren't coordinating. Plus my thoughts were going every which way. It was like I didn't know how to think properly either (which may be true since I haven't had a good think session in ages). So I would say something, but realize that it wasn't what I was trying to convey...or I would have trouble piecing together words to match the thoughts in my head.

They say you lose brain cells with every pregnancy...I think I lost the ones connecting thought and speech...or I'm just out of practice since I've been in baby/toddler world.

But thanks...to you ladies who forbeared through my stammerings and brain farts. Not only did I get to laugh again but I got to feel normal again...and I know that will refresh me for days to come. (Thanks to Matt, too, for putting the kids to bed)

The Early Bird

Or should I say Early Chipmunk?

I'm beginning to settle with the fact that Chipmunk is just an early riser. Because of that, he's also early to bed. I hear that's normal. I just didn't know that.

Bear is apparently a late bird. I thought that was normal. She used to wake up at 9 am in the morning. Before Chipmunk was born, she started waking up around 8 am. I thought that was early.

Then Chipmunk comes along and wakes up at 6 am. Everyday. 6 am. I have to put him to bed around 7:30 at night...and only that late because I want him to at least see his dad for 5 minutes before we put him to bed.

6 am. I can't get over it. I know it's normal for most kids...It's just so weird that I have to entertain him for an hour and put him down for his first nap before Bear even gets up for the first time.

Speaking of which, perhaps I should be going to bed sooner, too. Time to log off.

Trains, Red Eggs, and Fathers...

We went out of town again this past weekend... It was a visit to the grandparents, yes, but we had a full agenda this weekend.

We took the kids to the train museum...



Bear was loving every moment. She was running around yelling, "Wow! Choo Choo Chain!"



Chipmunk enjoyed the train museum, too, in his own little way.

Saturday was Chipmunk's Red Egg and Ginger Party.



Our little man all dressed up for his shindig.



Red Eggs with Ginger



Bear eating...again.



Chipmunk had fun, but got all tuckered out after a while.

And Father's Day...Bear made sure to wish her dad and grandpa "Happy Dodders Day!" while Chipmunk decided to have a super cranky day (of which he sprouted another tooth).

Then we made the trip home...which in some ways was more daunting than the rest of the weekend...but we made it back...home sweet home.

Stunned!

Chipmunk surprised me this morning when he bit me and it felt sharp. After a few minutes of trying to convince an almost 4-month old to "open wide" I stuck my finger in there and felt it...his first tooth breaking through his gummy surface. I was stunned! I'm still stunned! Bear got her first tooth early, but not this early. I guess he's just trying to one-up his sister. Argh.

Wordless

I don't know what to write about these days. I've been suffering from writer's block.

I'm also suffering from mommy brain (wait! whose diaper did I just change?), butterfingers (broke two dishes this week!) and just general lack of common sense (let's take this out of the oven without an oven mitt!).

So I'll end here, before I hurt myself with the keyboard somehow.

White

After my shower this morning, I mentioned to Matt that I'm losing all my hair. All that hair that the pregnancy hormones helped me retain are now falling out. It's a verifiable mess since my hair has reached super lengths

In the car Matt pointed out that I had two white hairs and said. "too bad the white ones didn't fall out."

White hairs. Ever since I turned thirty, I've been finding white hairs. I think they're stress related. Or I should say that I hope they're stress related.

Of course I know one day that may not be the case...So this time I'm going to ignore that old adage about plucking out white hairs and hope beyond hope that they don't come back.

Short

Lately, I've been a little short. Short tempered, that is.

Perhaps it's because my sleep is short.

How's that for a short post?

Outdoor Babies

My kids just tend to do better when we go out. I just have to bite the bullet and pack up the car everyday so we spend some happier moments out of the house. Bear seems to be happy wherever we go as long as Sonja is there with her. Chipmunk seems to like being in outdoorsy settings. Today at the Farmers' Market he wouldn't nap, but was enjoying himself and laughing whenever the wind blew upon his face. Funny baby.

I just have such a hard time motivating myself to pack them both up into the car with all their numerous necessary accouterments.

Here's our morning at the park on Monday.



Bear enjoyed climbing. Although Dad was helping her, she would periodically yell over to me, "Yook, Mommy! Climbing!"



Why don't parks have sand anymore? What is this wooded junk covering the playground floor? Regardless, Bear seemed to enjoy throwing it around.



Chipmunk enjoyed the park in his own way, feeling the wind blow into his face.



The clouds were looking a little ominous after a while, so we couldn't spend too long, but at least our babies got to have some outdoor time.

3 months and 100 days

It still amazes me how babies magically change once they hit 3 months. Chipmunk was suddenly super-smiley and happy. And colic? What colic? It's like it never happened. I actually thought this week, "huh, I guess looking back, it wasn't that bad." Of course, when Matt reads this he'll probably give me a look and say, "Wasn't that bad?!?! Are you kidding me?"

Of course, it's probably just the mommy-endorphins talking. You know, the ones that even though pregnancy sucked, labor was short of torture, and the first 2 months after giving birth were just cry-fests day in and day out, you suddenly after a few months think, "I'm ready to give it another go!" Meanwhile, the husband is burying his head in his hands asking himself if he was the only one who remembers accurately the past few months of crazy mommy moments.

Anyway, back to Chipmunk...Today is officially his 100th day! For Bear I wrote her a poem when she met her milestone. For Chipmunk, I put together a collage of his 100 days.



Happy baek-il, Chipmunk!

Two against Two...and then some

It's two against two. Two parents versus two kids. I've heard parents discuss their choice on having only 2 kids with their reason being that once the third comes, the kids outnumber the parents. Right now our family is at a stalemate. If Bear needs something and I've got Chipmunk in hand, she gets directed to her dad, or Chipmunk gets dropped off with dad so I can attend to the Bear. It's a constant dance of "tag, you're it!" with the kids floating between us.

Then again during the day when Matt is at work, it's a whole different scenario. I have no one to pass off a kid to, so I'm juggling both of them at the same time. Of course trying to put 100% focus on two places is impossible so sometimes you miss things.

I just keeping thinking about how in the world I'll be able to keep tabs on both kids when Chipmunk becomes mobile.

Speaking of mobile, I loved how Bear pretty much stayed in the same place until she was 7 months old. Chipmunk gave Matt and I a scare one day when we found him napping like this:



He was two feet from where he started! I guess I really better start putting him down for his naps in his crib from now on.

Liars

My mom always tells me that our kids have this knack for making liars out of us. I often write about how my kids are little "troublemakers," yet when we go out, or are in the midst of other people, my kids are little angels. Bear, of course, is the charmer, smiling her cute little smile, waving hello, sharing Sonja, and of course, being her wonderful little self. Chipmunk is super-mellow, smiles at anyone, and loves to chat up a storm if you get him in the right mood.

So no one but us sees the pouting, crying, temper tantrums, whining and all in all everyday fussing. I guess if there are no witnesses, then we can't prove we actually have 2 little "troublemakers." I guess we'll just have to live as supposed liars.

No More Expectations

Bear has been sleeping in her new bed these past couple of days. So far it's been a relatively easy transition. I was surprised. We put her down for her nap yesterday for the first time in her bed...she seemed hesitant, but I offered to lay down next to her and she agreed. That night, she whined a little bit, but lay down in the bed as long as Matt stayed there for a little bit. Today for her nap she lay down without a fuss and kicked me out of the room so she could get some shut-eye. I see.

The funny thing is she still acts like she's sleeping in the crib. She won't get out of the bed herself although it's only a half a foot off the ground. It's fine with us that she won't leave her bed until we come get her, but I thought that she'd love the instant freedom and hightail it out of her bed the moment she awoke. Not the case. I realize that one of these days she'll figure it out, but for now Matt and I realize that we have a good kid who is a good sleeper.

On the other hand, we have our 3 month old who we find has been "different" from Bear. Bear started sleeping through the night at 9 weeks. Chipmunk is 12 weeks and refuses to sleep through the night. He likes to wake up after 5 hours, eat, sleep for another 2 hours, eat, sleep for another 2 hours, eat and then sleep until the late morning. Bear would cry for about 10 minutes when we put her down and would fall asleep sucking on her fist. Chipmunk cries loudly for 30-45 minutes and then stops suddenly to fall asleep. During the day, he will not cry himself to sleep...he will cry until I finally soothe him to sleep. They're so different.

Bear was very scheduled. I didn't have to set her schedule, she basically set it herself. Chipmunk has no schedule whatsoever and all attempts at putting him on a schedule have failed miserably. Then again, Bear's naps were only 30 minutes at a time sometimes...Chipmunk naps for hours and hours, that is once he finally falls asleep. It's just too weird. I can't get over how opposite things have been so far.

I don't know what I was expecting, but it seems that whatever I expect is just wrong. I expected Bear to have a horrible time transitioning to a new bed and she's fine. I expected Chipmunk to have similar sleep patterns as Bear and he's completely the opposite. I expected Bear to have a hard time adjusting to Chipmunk's arrival, but she was completely okay. I expected to have an easier time feeding Chipmunk, but he's really difficult sometimes. He won't take all his milk at one time, likes to let go and make a mess, and he bites! Perhaps I should just stop having expectations.

Overshadowing

Every Mother's Day our church has child dedications. Yesterday we dedicated Chipmunk...he is young, but we figured, hey, now is as good a time as any. So we stood up in front of the congregation as a family and read our prayer to God for Chipmunk. It was good for us to remember that raising our kids isn't just making sure they're fed and washed, but teaching them values and character and the importance of spiritual care.

Our church is a decent size, so it can be rather daunting standing up in front and having all eyes focused on you. Then again while I was reading our prayer, most of the congregation was focusing their attention on Bear. From the corner of my eye I noticed her walk up to our pastor and proudly announce, "Doh-dya!" as she handed Sonja over to him. There was some snickering from the pews and I could see people smiling. When I finished reading, our pastor introduced Sonja to the whole congregation much to the delight of Bear.

After service ended quite a number of people came up to remark how "not shy" Bear was. True. Most dedications I've witnessed the older siblings are trying their best to become permanently attached to their parents' legs. Bear wandered around the stage as if she owned it.

So even though the dedication was supposed to be for Chipmunk, Bear apparently stole the show. Sometimes I wonder if their sibling relationship is going to be like that with Bear "overshadowing" her brother most of the time and Chipmunk just going along with whatever Bear does.

It reminded me of a time four years ago when my sister, my cousin (along with her husband and their then three kids at the time), and I visited our mutual fifth grade teacher who was retiring after thirty something years. It was amazing to see how after all these years she still loved kids and treated them with so much respect. I was in awe of her teaching skills most especially watching her interact with my cousin's two oldest. They were inspecting a strange something she had on display and the 6 year old asked what it was. Instead of just telling him she asked, "what do you think it is?" His response was "a feather." And instead of ignoring the 4 year old who was watching quietly a couple of feet away, she turned to him and asked, "and how about you?" He said, "a feather." Then she did something that really struck me. She said, "that's what your brother thinks, but what do you think it is?" The 4 year old looked at it again, thought about it and said, "I guess it looks like a snake." She smiled and told them it was the shed skin of a snake. She then bent down to the 4 year old's level, tapped him on the nose, smiled and said, "you are your own person...you make sure that you always say what you think and not what your brother thinks, okay?" It was very important to her that each kid expressed their own opinion, not just that day with my cousin's kids, but also as we were her students.

Needless to say, I'm curious to see how things will turn out with Bear and Chipmunk. Perhaps one of these days Chipmunk will develop his own strong personality and fight it out with his sister...or perhaps he'll be the quiet type who keeps his thoughts to himself allowing his sister to overshadow who he is. If that's the case, I'll have to learn how to create teachable moments as my fifth grade teacher did in order to help out Chipmunk's thoughts and opinions. Sibling dynamics. Interesting. I guess we'll just have to wait and see how things progress with them. I'll be sure to keep you all posted.


Our Mother's Day family picture

Mother's Day?

There was a tradition in my family growing up. Mother's Day was always terrible for my mom. It wasn't purposeful, but somehow throughout a day of what was supposed to celebrate our mom, my siblings and I would cause her more heartache. We would fight more for some reason, were more tired, crankier, threw more tantrums and fits, and were just horrible. By the end of the long day we spent more time apologizing to her rather than celebrating. I don't know what it was about that day.

I woke up on Mother's Day feeling super tired after a long night with Chipmunk to hear Bear pounding on the wall much earlier than was normal. We rushed to church, almost missed the child dedication, and then spent some time after service chatting with some friends. This is how Bear and Chipmunk spent the time:



Bear was tired and tried to throw a little tantrum at one point by throwing herself head first onto the floor. She was surprised to find that it hurt (well, I think she didn't realize that just beneath the carpet at church was concrete). Crying followed.



Chipmunk spent his time complaining and whining. He wanted to sleep, but wouldn't just sleep on his own. He also would ask to be fed, but then would use the time to bite his mom. Ouch.

Ah, fun.

For my mommy...

I was 6 when I opened my lunch and found a gummy smurf candy next to my sandwich and fruit. I knew it was from my mom and I loved it. It made my day.

I was 10 when I found out I was the kid with the "cool" mom. You know, the one that other kids always envied and wished was their own. My friends were all plotting how they could convince their moms to let them get their ears "double-pierced" and I didn't have to plot. My mom was the one with the double piercing, and she already asked if I wanted to do the same...I was chicken and said, "no."

I was 11 when I understood how difficult it must have been for my mom to be there for us while handling a full-time job. She took an odd job where she worked from midnight to noon just so she could be there to pick us up from school each day and spend the afternoons with us, when I know she probably just wanted to lay down in bed and snooze.

I was 13 when I was most hard on my mom...Well, I was a teenager. I was a hormonal, moody, teenager who slammed doors and thought that all rules were for sadistic purposes. Yet she was the one who was always there, talking things out with me, putting up with my emotional outbursts, and trying to reason with me when I was completely irrational. Being an unreasonable teenager I didn't take her words as seriously as I should have.

I was 17 when I had an epiphany and realized my mom was right. I was also living in a dorm, in a college, 110 miles away...I spent a lot of time on the phone calling home that year.

I was 20 when I figured out what a wonderful mother-daughter relationship we had when I read my 20th birthday card from her...I remember the vivid honesty in her words and I just cried when I read it. That was when I learned that a mom can also be one of your best friends.

I was 28 when I realized just how much my mom loved me. Holding my own daughter in my arms I learned all too quickly how tough it is being a mom...how often moms are taken for granted...how sacrifice is an everyday thing...how changing diapers and cleaning spit up is only the beginning of a lifelong process...how much patience is necessary...how dramatically life-altering it is...yet, moms do it all out of love and nothing more...

Thank you, mom. I love you, too.



Happy Mother's Day.

Accidental Troublemaker

Since Chipmunk has been born, Bear has been getting into trouble...a lot. The problem is she's not jealous or acting out towards him. She's just trying to be helpful...or playful...or she's just curious.

I found cookies all over the floor today. She was trying to sort them into two bowls because she wanted to share her cookies with me. Later I heard Chipmunk start wailing. I found him with a stuffed dog on his face that Bear left for him to "play" with. I scolded her later for pushing me as I was changing Chipmunk's diaper, but really she was making room for herself so she could watch. Just a few minutes ago, she was trying to share the remote with her brother but instead conked him on the head accidentally. Last night at dinner she spilled a bowl of food because she was determined to "help" daddy and serve him some potatoes.

It must be rough being a toddler, not really understanding what all these rules are for and people constantly telling you "no" all the time. I try to allow her the freedom to grow, to help her use her creativity and explore through her curiosity, but I find myself having to referee some of her endeavors. Telling her to sit down when we eat, reminding her that baby brothers need their space, and how sometimes we don't want a third helping of salad on our plates are just a few of the things I tell her daily.

She discovered the bouncer works great as a catapult, problem being Chipmunk tends to be the object she tries to catapult. One day she happily yelled, "hat!," while playing with plastic measuring cups and even tried them out on Chipmunk's head. She then yelled, "hammer!" which followed with an ear piercing 11 week old's cry...needless to say a timeout followed. She wants to give her brother a hug and instead of lightly embracing she pulls and tugs at him in an attempt to hold him herself, while we're trying to make sure she doesn't pull off an appendage.

She's slowly learning...and I guess this is just how kids learn that there are boundaries and limits...which in my mind are truly hard to set. I realize that there are some rules that are more important than others. Those regarding her safety and of others around her are most important. I'm also a stickler for rules that promote family togetherness and those that teach manners and politeness. It's just so hard to see her tear up because, well, she meant well, suddenly feels guilty for making her brother cry, and now she's being punished? Poor kid. I hope she'll understand someday soon.

Oh yes...

And before I forget...the numbers...

Chipmunk at 10 weeks

14 pounds and 12 ounces (95th percentile!)

Whoa baby!

Readjusting

This past weekend we took a mini-trip. The main purpose was to attend the wedding of a good friend of ours, but we also managed to visit with the grandparents and great-grandparents and let them spend time with their grandchildren.

Bear spent some time in my grandmother's garden picking callalilies with my mom. She was fascinated with the insides of the flower.



Chipmunk spent his time lounging in my grandfather's favorite chair.



After a jam-packed weekend of visiting friends, attending a wedding, hanging out with grandparents on both sides of the family, we managed to get home.

It's always hard readjusting to being at home again. Nap times and feeding times are all out of synch and the kids are little bit more rebellious. Bear spent her time fighting nap time, so much so that she didn't nap at all, fell asleep early, woke up in the middle of the night from having a nightmare and then slept till 10 am the next morning. Chipmunk would sleep during wake time and was awake during sleep time and fed at odd times.



We also had to take him for his 2 month appointment the next morning (first set of shots!) so he spent the day fighting off his innoculations with a slight fever.

You see, there's always this time of readjustment after each trip we take. The longer we're on a trip, the longer it takes to readjust. I figure it takes about 2-3 days to readjust back to our home routine.

It's slowly getting there, but we're starting to slowly readjust...until we take another trip, that is.

Arm Exercise

The other day I was complaining to Matt that my arms were getting sore.

Today I weighed Chipmunk and the scale blinked 14 pounds at me.

Seriously, what is this kid eating?

Encounters

I was at one of my favorite stores today and after toting around two kids and returning the cart, I ran into one of my former students. He was an employee there and he was running around picking up the floating carts in the lot.

He actually approached me first and started to say, "Are you...", but I interrupted him with "Hey! How are you?!" I think he thought I wouldn't recognize him, but of course, I did.

I remember him being one of the students who would sit in my class with this serious glower on his face and I was sure he was just counting down the minutes till he could be free of the tortures of Biology.

But now, he had the biggest smile on his face and was talking to me about how things were going for him lately. He even asked me how I was doing.

It's just nice to see my students being grown ups rather than ridden with teenage angst.

Encounters like these happen all the time. I just happen to live close enough to where I taught that I happen to run into my former students quite often. So far I haven't had any encounters where the student cusses me out and tells me how I failed them. So far they've all been pleasant. I hope it stays that way.

Bear the Artist

Bear and I were coloring the other day. She picked up her purple crayon and started drawing. I asked her, "What are you drawing?"

"I color happy face!" Bear said with a smile.

Then she pointed to different parts of her drawing and pointed out the eyes, the nose, the mouth and the hair.

I was impressed. Can you see her happy face in her drawing?

Sometimes Being A Mom Sucks...

It always amazes me how some moms can get out of the house dressed up, hair done, make-up on and towing their spotless kids behind them. I feel happy if I brushed my teeth that morning.

Or I wonder how some moms have their home spotless, organized and pristine...dishes are clean and put away, toys are in their places, carpets are clean and dust free. I on the other hand usually find banana squished into my carpet, usually found accidentally with my bare foot.

So I wonder whether some moms just have it all together or they just hide it very well. I know for a fact that I don't have anything together, and trust me I can't hide it even if I tried.

A mother of three told me last weekend that I seemed like I was handling well being a mom of two. I told her, "Handling? I don't know. I don't know if it's handling well or just doing it because it has to be done." She nodded in agreement.

So I asked a mom of four how she does it...how she handles being home with four to care for. Her response (and I love the honesty) was that "usually when the youngest one cries, [she's] crying with her."

Ah. I see. Sometimes being a mom sucks. It's tough. It's rough. It sometimes makes you want to cry. Sometimes we just aren't at our best (or even close).

So why do we try so hard to make it seem like we've got it all together when we're really not? Is there really such thing as a "super mom?" If so, I'd like to meet her and see whether or not she actually gets any sleep. Meanwhile, I'm quite happy being "not-so-super" mom just trying to get through each day. I guess if I took the time to clean myself and my house up, I'd never get the time to spend hugging and enjoying the company of my kids. Here's to all you "not-so-super" moms out there...I think you're the best!

Mommy Unaware

Matt doesn't understand why I don't notice when he gets haircuts. I don't notice when anyone gets haircuts...that is, unless there were multiple feet of hair chopped off. It's just not one of those things I notice. It always amazes me, those women, who notice when someone gets even just a trim.

So it's always a game we play. Matt gets a haircut and waits to see how long it takes me to notice.

Last Saturday Matt got a haircut after work. Bear saw her dad for the first time that day and said, "Daddy Hair!"

I just don't get it.

Similarities

I saw this picture of Chipmunk and laughed because it reminded me so much of a post we wrote on Bear around the same age.



The similarities are there...

Happy Face!

I agree with Nina that toddlers are all about obsessions. Bear's latest obsession is all about happy faces.

If you happen to color with her, she'll probably demand that you draw a happy face. If you're lucky, she'll draw one for you, too.

Whenever we make the trip to Costco, it's always her responsibility to hand the receipt to the folks that check the carts when we exit. They always draw a happy face for her on the back of the receipt and she will stare at it with glee all the way to the car.

When Chipmunk starts to grimace, she yells out, "Baby Happy Face!" Okay, so he's not really smiling, but at least she's trying to understand the concept. I don't know if "frowning" is in her vocabulary yet.

This morning she took apart a box of wipes and ran up to me yelling, "happy face! happy face! happy face!" This is what she showed me:



She really is seeing happy faces everywhere.

6 Weeks

Here's a picture that Matt snapped of Chipmunk smiling.



It's these moments that remind me that all the rest of the hardships that we're going through are worth it.

Chipmunk has so far been at his worst when it comes to colic. I'm hoping that this is the peak of the fussiness and crying. He used to cry for part of the day...these past few days he's been crying most of the day. At night he won't sleep unless I'm holding him.

He also hates being in the car. He cries loudly until he goes hoarse whenever we're driving places. So driving long distances aren't really an option right now. Fortunately, the crying doesn't bother Bear much. She aptly tells me, "Baby crying! Baby Hung-gy (Hungry)" and then most of the time just falls asleep to the background noise of the wailing. Impressive.

So it doesn't matter. He cries at home, he cries in the car. I will just have to deal with it until the colic disappears. Just pray that I can remain sane and keep some semblance of patience in the meantime. And while I wait, I can always enjoy his smiles here and there...reminding me that the constant crying is just temporary.

Longing for a Haircut

Reasons to Cut My Hair:

1) The last time I had it cut, Bear was in the womb.
2) I have to use Costco size bottles of conditioner in order to have enough to condition it.
3) Brushing is a painful ordeal. Bear actually copies me by pretending to brush her own hair. She even says, "ow ow ow."
4) Every time I sit down I sit on my hair.
5) Every time I lay down I lay on my hair.
6) Chipmunk likes to grab the loose hairs while he feeds. Ouch.
7) It takes forever to dry.
8) Last but not least, Someone out there could really use my hair.

One of these days I will get to it.

Mommy and Me Time

Since Chipmunk needs to be held a lot, Bear often has to do things on her own. She's a trooper though and doesn't seem to mind too much that I'm always carrying the Chipmunk around. Because of that I've been trying to find some special time for just the two of us to hang out and have fun. There is this span of time in the late afternoon where Chipmunk is sleeping and she's ready and refreshed after her nap that's perfect for some Mommy & Bear activities.

Today's activity was egg dying. She was so excited as I was diluting all the dyes, it was a task keeping her from spilling them. I even pulled out the non-washable crayons for her to color her eggs with. She was so thrilled that she slammed a couple of the eggs on the table and cracked them. Whoops.



Here are her eggs. She's so proud of them and even adorned them with stickers later on.



I tried to get a nice picture of Bear with her eggs, but she developed a "camera smile." You know, the ones kids force when they say "cheese." Unfortunately, her fake smile makes it look like she's in pain in most of her pictures.

Despite the look on her face, I think she had a good time.

Deprivation and Reward

When you lack something, it helps you appreciate it all the more when it comes.

Last night I got to sleep for 3 and a half hours straight. Wow, it felt great. Yup. Chipmunk slept for a 4 and a half hour stretch.

More of a schedule is finally settling in. Chipmunk actually gave us 2 colic free nights.

And the snot? Well, that's starting to lessen as well.

Aaaah.

Then again, we won't know what will happen tomorrow.

(Sorry, haven't posted any pictures...well, because my children were snotty)

Surviving

It's been rough. I won't lie. Having 2 sick kids takes a lot out of you. Bear wakes constantly at night and is super tired and cranky during the day. She also has these nice canker sores which she complains about constantly and keeps her from eating. Chipmunk has trouble staying asleep and has trouble eating with his stuffy nose (along with his bouts of crying for hours). Both of them have had fits of coughing and our humidifier has been on constantly. Gratefully there are no fevers...just a lot of snot.

But we're surviving...snot and all.

On the other hand, I've been super industrious. Well, some women shop when they're having a rough time. I clean. I don't just vacuum and wash dishes. I rearrange furniture and scrub grout between tiles with old toothbrushes.

I should be sleeping though...and perhaps I shouldn't be moving furniture either.

Numbers

30 - the number of minutes it takes to pack 2 kids into the car

19 - the number of times I told Bear to stop waking up her brother this morning

17 - the number of diapers I changed yesterday

9 - the number of times Chipmunk woke up out of a sound nap suddenly, usually from snorting (stuffy nose)

8 - the number of times Bear lost Sonja and ran through the house screaming for her

6 - the number of dirty outfits I changed yesterday

5 - the number of hours Chipmunk was up last night crying

4 - the number of Curious George episodes I had to watch today

3 - the number of hours of sleep I got last night(in 3 different parts)

2 - the number of kids in this house with colds involving stuffy noses

1 - the number of tired moms in this house

One Down, Two to Go

When I was a first time parent with Bear, I spent most of the first month feeling like I was doing something wrong. Actually, I spent most of the first year feeling like I was doing something wrong. Seasoned parents would tell me that "3 months" was the magic number. "Just wait 3 months," they said, "it'll seem much better then." Of course it was hard for me to imagine with a screaming one month old day in and day out. When 3 months rolled around, it was like magic...the colicky symptoms went away, a better schedule was established and I felt much more at ease about being a parent.

I find that having experienced the dramatic difference of 3 months, I've been impatiently waiting for Chipmunk to hit that point. I find myself muttering things like, "only 8 more weeks to go" or "one month down, two more to go." Now that Chipmunk has hit the 1 month mark though, I realize that 4 weeks came and went much quicker than I expected.

So perhaps I should stop looking forward to "3 months" and just enjoy "right now" because I'm afraid I'm going to miss out on something special...like the joy of having a newborn...

Whoa Mama!

I've read that newborns are supposed to gain on average an ounce a day. Sixteen days ago Chipmunk was 8 pounds which was 13 ounces less than his birth weight. Today he weighed in at 9 pounds 8 ounces! That's 24 ounces in 16 days! The doctor took a look at the chart and said "Whoa Mama, what have you been feeding this boy?"

Suffice it to say I'm not too worried about his weight anymore...however I am concerned about his feeding habits. When you're feeding a child every two hours it wears you down after a while. I hope he grows out of this growth spurt soon and slows down the frequency of his feedings. I really do need longer intervals of sleep. I think 20 minutes at a time just isn't healthy.

Entertaining ourselves

When you're sleep deprived, you've got to entertain yourself somehow.



Thanks, Matt, for making me laugh.

Falling Asleep Standing

I took a Humanities class during my freshman year of college where the most interesting part of the class was seeing how many people were sleeping through the lecture the morning after a paper was due. One time, there was this poor soul who obviously ran to class to turn the paper in time, was too late to get an actual seat, ended up having to sit on the steps of the lecture hall, where he promptly fell asleep and snored loudly (to the amusement of those sitting around him) throughout the hour and a half of lecture.

Ah, sleep...so very necessary...yet so fleeting when you've got a newborn.

This time around I've been trying harder to get rest when I can...especially with our little Chipmunk who has daytime and nightime reversed...so he's up all night, and come morning, up rises Bear who needs my attention as well. So my sleep has been short and sporadic. I think if I had to sit through a Humanities lecture right now, I'd be the one snoring.

Granted, Chipmunk is more predictable since he's our second kid...we're able to read him better than we could as new parents with Bear...so it's not as frustrating...just more sleep depriving. I'm amazed that Matt can get up to go to work at 6:30 in the morning after a night of sleeping in a chair with Chipmunk in his lap.

So, I'm afraid that one of these days I'll catch myself falling asleep while standing. Now that would be something to see.

All About Personality...

Chipmunk had his follow up appointment with the doctor today. As I feared, he hasn't really been gaining any weight. I know, he was 8 pounds 13 ounces when he was born, which is quite sizable, but when we left he weighed just 8 pounds. Babies do lose weight during those first few days...but they're not supposed to lose that much.

So today he weighed 8 pounds...still. I was a little disappointed. I felt that perhaps I wasn't feeding him well enough...

So the doctor asked me a ton of questions...turns out he is eating...he just likes to take his merry, sweet time. For example, last night he ate for about an hour and a half straight. He drank the whole time, just very...very...slowly.

The doctor said that he was alert, well-hydrated and probably gaining weight (assuming he lost some weight after we left the hospital, too)...his personality was just too mellow and easy-going to be a vigorous eater.

Too mellow and easy-going to eat? Too lazy to eat, perhaps. It's so opposite from Bear's first few days who was constantly hungry and ate too quickly.

Different personalities? I guess we'll soon find out.

Rare Moment

Bear is fast asleep.

Chipmunk is fast asleep.

Matt is fast asleep.

It's 4:30 in the afternoon.

I'm awake watching chick flicks.

I think this is going to be a rare moment, indeed.

Our Hungry Chipmunk

Just wanted to update with some pictures of our little "chipmunk."



He was a big boy when he was born. He continues to amaze us with his superior eating abilities. He actively eats for an hour and then asks for more. I just don't have enough for him. He practically eats another meal right afterwards of what is supposed to be "supplemental" formula.

Here's Bear with her brother.



She came to the hospital everyday...ran into the room, wouldn't say hi to mom or dad, but would run over to her brother and yell out, "Hi Baby!" Ever since the chipmunk came home, she's been hugging and kissing him, patting his head and trying to tickle him.

Here's our family of four:



Whoa. Four. That's going to take some getting used to.

Turkey is done... (by padawanlee)

Just an update for everyone. Our newest member of the family came out healthy and well done today. He was born at 12:30pm at 8 lbs 13 oz and 20 inches long. Both mom and baby are resting and doing well in the hospital, mom is recovering well from the delivery and dad is happy that everyone is well and he is adjusting to being a parent of a newborn again. There will be no more tickets for sale for the traveling mommy show anymore but a new attraction will be soon taking its place. More updates and pictures to follow once we settle down.

Thank you all for your support, prayers, and words of encouragement over the past few months as God has blessed our family with this new baby boy.

Will Write Again Soon

One year for Thanksgiving I remember shopping for turkeys and considering the number of people we decided to get a 10 pound turkey. Comparatively, it's a small turkey.

I apparently have a small turkey inside me. He's estimated to be 9 pounds (give or take a pound) and he's stubbornly hanging out in the wrong position.

No, I don't know how this baby turned out to be 9 pounds. It was quite a shock for Matt and myself (Bear was only 7 lbs).

Apparently our turkey is done baking. He's being removed from the oven tomorrow at noon.

Will write again soon.

Welcome to the Freak Show...

You ever have the feeling that wherever you go people are looking at you funny?

Everywhere I go these days I feel like that. I feel like a freak show.

It's interesting to see people's reactions. Some people smile. Some people shake their heads. Some people have a pained expression on their face. Some try to discreetly point me out as they whisper to their companions. Some have the courage to even speak to me.

"You just have one in there, right?"

"Wow, you must be due soon!"

"You look like you're ready to pop!"

That's me. A one-woman freak show. Better get your tickets soon, the show will hopefully be ending shortly.

Eat Hot Dog? (by padawanlee)

I wonder when kids actually learn to read. Yesterday we went to Costco to pick up some supplies before baby #2's arrival and as we pulled into the parking lot Bear commented from the backseat "eat dinner, hot dog". Carina and I looked at each other with a befuddled look comprehending what Bear just said. One, we didn't mention hot dogs at all during the car trip and second, the Costco we were at was not the usual one we shop at. So either Baby Bear can read signs now or she had a strange craving for a hot dog... what do you think?

Bear is Swedish, Yah?

It's fun to ask Bear questions these days. She actually answers. I remember a couple of years ago when I'd be walking through the grocery store and asking Bear questions like, "Should we have pork or beef?" and the most of a reaction I'd get from her was a coo or a smile. I do realize that I talked to myself a lot those first few months of parenthood.

As one who is not well-versed in the art of baby talk, I tend to talk to Bear like she's an adult. Yesterday I caught myself telling her, "You really need to work on your organizational skills." Ha ha...like that's going to happen any time soon (as I groan and pick up a billion toys off the floor while I'm practically 9 months pregnant).

It's just nice to hear an actual response to my questions when I ask them now.

The only thing I'm a little puzzled about is how my toddler came to respond to questions with "Yah" instead of "Yes." She used to use the latter (and I love how she emphatically nods her head at the same time). Recently, she's decided to answer questions affirmatively with "Yah."

Last week a friend came over and asked Bear, "Are you going to be a good big sister to the baby?" Bear bobbed her head up and down a few times and said, "Yah!"

Later in the week I asked her, "Bear do you want an apple?" She responded, "eat appoh(apple), yah!"

Apparently, Bear is becoming European.

A Little Goodbye

If I wasn't 38 weeks pregnant and having irregular contractions, I'd probably be making my way up to Nor Cal right about now.

When I was pregnant with Bear, one of my hopes was that she would get to meet her great great grandma (or "big big ma ma" as she called her)...I just thought, "how neat would it be for all five generations to be together in one room...how precious it would be." So they met, and although Bear probably won't remember...and her great great grandma wasn't even sure who we all were...it was still a sweet moment where we could capture the 5 generations in a photo op.

About an hour ago I heard the news that my kun halmoni passed away. I wish I could be there to say goodbye...Instead this will have to do.



We'll miss you kun halmoni and "big big ma ma."

Hard, Easy, Hard, Easy...

No, I'm not writing about eggs...

A couple nights ago a father of four told me that in his experience (and also comparing with some other parents that he knew) the first child is always hard, the second is easier (emphasis on "er"), the third is again hard, and then the fourth is easy.

I thought about that for a while and then I wondered, "Is Bear hard or easy to raise?" We know the answer is "hard" but apparently appearances can be deceiving. We've heard way too often about how Bear seems so easy...ha ha ha...that's funny.

But if Bear is an easy child to raise and we've just been overdramatizing everything in our heads, then does that mean we are going to give birth to a little hellraiser in a couple of weeks? I don't know if we are ready for that.

Two Years and a Thank You

I realized the other day that our blog is coming upon 2 years now...and what once started as a place I could just express myself while being trapped at home with a newborn has now become a glimpse into the world that we like to call "our family."

First off, just wanted to send out a little "thanks" to all of you readers out there whoever you are. Whether you are friend, family or friends of the friends and family, we appreciate your visit to our humble little site that mostly revolves around one silly little girl.

Just for fun, I thought I'd provide links to some of our favorite moments in the past 2 years...

Why Bear cried during bathtime (9-11-2007)
Why you should never leave a child unattended with yogurt (4-17-07)
Why Matt wonders where his genes went (3-2-07)
Why Daddy was saying "Doh"(12-22-06)
Why 11 month olds shouldn't play with fruit(11-12-06)
How Kids pick things up so easily when you're not there(7-9-06)

Stay tuned...I'm quite sure more stories and laughs are to come.

Christmas Wrap-Up

Sometimes I wonder if Bear will remember any of these moments. My earliest memory was when I was 3 years old and my sister was born...Perhaps it's ingrained in my memory because it was such a happy (er...traumatic) moment in my life. My brother once recalled a moment when he was 2. I've heard that (although rare) some people actually remember being in their cribs watching their mobiles. Spooky. Whatever the case may be, I still wonder how much Bear is impacted by all of these moments in her life.

Christmas

We spent Christmas with Matt's family in Sacramento this year. It was nice. Bear had a great time eating and of course, opening presents (Abre Peh-sent?). As I've been heading towards immobility, it was nice having lots of family around to care for and entertain Bear. Being as inquisitive as she is, Bear followed Grandma and Grandpa around constantly asking, "What doing?"

After Christmas

For Bear's birthday we headed West and visited my side of the family. Bear continued to eat and open presents. We went to this pizza place in Berkeley called Zachary's. For those of you who have never been, their pizza is a serious deep dish pizza. I could only manage one slice. Bear meanwhile ate about half a salad and almost 2 pieces of pizza. Amazing.

Fun Being 2

Bear rode a carousel for the first time. I couldn't tell if she was enjoying it while she was riding it, but after she got off she promptly told me "Dun (Fun)."

I think throughout our week in Nor Cal, I enjoyed most watching Bear take in all of her surroundings. We took walks in Sacramento where she was fascinated with leaves and rocks and grass. Visiting her Great Grandma she enjoyed opening all the cabinets and finding "treasures" here and there. Even when it was just so cold Bear was running around in her blue parka on the grass or she was watching the rainfall. We even had an engrossing conversation about "poo" when she asked about the brown turd on the car window (B: Bir poo poo? Me: Yes, all animals poo poo. [later in the conversation] B: Tanta poo poo? Me: Does Santa poo poo? Uh, I don't know.).



Going Home

This year we didn't have to stuff a 4 foot pink pony into our car...but if anyone looked in our trunk they would have thought that we were building an altar for Dora the Explorer (Dora clothes, Dora games, Dora books, Dora bandages?). I guess brand marketing worked on this family.

After a week Matt and I were exhausted...on the other hand, Bear was revved up and even more of a conversationalist than when we arrived. Seven hours (of toddler conversation) later we arrived home and rang in the New Year by falling asleep.

Ah, good times.


Bear's 1st Christmas Gift of 2007 from her mom and dad

Why I Can't Count...

Someone asked me about a month ago how far along I was in this pregnancy. I thought about it, but was really puzzled because I had absolutely no clue. I just answered, "I don't know...somewhere in the 3rd trimester, I think?"

I just can't count the weeks this time around. I actually signed up at Babycenter for weekly emails to tell me how far along I am. Otherwise, I have to grab others who are pregnant (and counting) so I can somehow figure out where I am compared to them.

Honestly there's a lot of things I don't know about this pregnancy. We still don't know the gender of the baby (not without lack of trying). I haven't really read any books to prepare for this baby. I don't even know if we have everything we need for this baby. Perhaps I should at least pack my bag for the hospital.

Sometimes I feel as if I should have more anxiety than I presently do...especially since so many people give me a nervous look and say, "You're due in February? I don't think you're going to make it to February." And yet, I look at the toys spilled all over our floor and I feel more compelled to get that cleaned up rather than think about the future (which is quickly approaching).

So I will just enjoy sitting with Bear and watch her take in the world around her. She's even started counting objects on her own (one, two, fee, door, dive, tix, eben, eight, nine, twendy!) Perhaps I'll have her keep track of this pregnancy for me.

The Best Day of the Year?

I overheard Matt explaining to Bear this morning that today (Jan 1st) is the "best day of the year." He said, "you can watch football all day!" Bear just responded by asking for more juice.

My only thought though is what happened to the names of all the beloved bowl games? Seriously, what is a "Chick-Fil-A" Bowl? Or even better..."Capital One" Bowl? Okay, so I'm not going to watch any of these bowl games, but I just had to ask.